Principles of Pilates Exercise
1. Whole body health
Whole body health refers to the complete coordination of physical development, mind and spirit. Pilates believes that whole body health can be achieved through exercise, proper diet, good hygiene and sleep habits, plenty of sunshine and fresh air, balance between life and work, entertainment and relaxation.
2. Correct breathing
The natural law of life and the natural inner rhythm are breathing. Pilates mentioned in the book Return to Life Through Contrology: "Breathing is the first act of life, and the most important thing is to learn how to breathe correctly." Breathing is synonymous with life and movement. It is all-encompassing and is the link between body, mind and spirit. Breathing is a powerful entrance, but it is often overlooked. Deep breathing can promote relaxation and release tension. Breathing is also a tool to achieve inner focus and inner rhythm, a way to relax the mind and soothe the spirit, and the engine that drives all movements.
Normal breathing is a complex process that involves many joints and muscles and is divided into actively controlled breathing and inactive controlled breathing. Understanding the basic breathing cycle is important because it provides a point of view during the movement cycle. A key muscle often mentioned when discussing breathing is the diaphragm, which is a dome-shaped piece of meat that forms a "crown" under the ribs. The diaphragm plays an important role in breathing and creating a "muscle tights". During breathing, 75% of the efficiency of breathing comes from the diaphragm. During inspiration, the diaphragm contracts and flattens, increasing the volume of the chest cavity, while the external intercostal muscles also contract, pulling the ribs upward. The overall effect is that the volume of the chest increases, the pressure inside the lungs decreases, and air flows into the lungs. When the diaphragm relaxes, the organs in the abdominal cavity and the abdominal muscles push it upward into its dome shape, thereby reducing the vertical size of the chest. In addition, the natural recoil of the lungs and chest wall causes the chest volume to decrease and the pressure inside the lungs to increase, squeezing the air out of the lungs and completing the exhalation.
When practicing Pilates, most movements are accompanied by abdominal muscle contraction, which is particularly challenging during the inhalation process. Therefore, in Pilates training, we emphasize the lateral and posterior expansion of the rib cage during inhalation. In addition to assisting the intake of air into the lungs, this breathing method also helps to maintain the contraction of the abdominal muscles throughout the exercise (during inhalation and exhalation), while also contributing to the dynamic stability of the trunk.
3. Balanced muscle development
Pilates often emphasizes the importance of balanced muscle development. Only when the muscles are balanced can we achieve true flexibility and achieve functional, mental, and whole-body balance. The symmetrical and coordinated development of the muscle system will make the spine present a good state, support the body, assist in movement, and the vertebrae can be well aligned and move segment by segment, providing a strong driving force for the movement of the trunk.
The condition of the human skeletal muscles often shows an imbalanced pattern of muscle movement for a variety of reasons. Some are related to the dominant side, some are related to scoliosis, and some are related to lack of flexibility or excessive flexibility. Sometimes, when the body is in the stage of self-protection and pain relief, some muscles will be overactive and others will be inhibited. Muscle imbalance is sometimes caused by a specific occupation or long-term bad posture. For example, unilateral strong sports such as tennis and badminton can cause unbalanced muscle development; frequently crossing one's legs to one side can cause pelvic tilt. Relieving imbalance and achieving a better state is our tireless pursuit.
4. Focus
Pilates often says: "Perfect repetition 5 times is much better than casual repetition 20 times!" Before exercising, you might as well review what the starting position of this action is, what breathing pattern should be used, which muscles should be mobilized, and how to maintain a good force line. Focusing on the body's force line will help mobilize the correct muscles and avoid unnecessary pressure on the body. Focusing on the breathing pattern will help maintain a good rhythm and concentration during exercise.
5. Core
Core muscle exercises occupy a very important position in the entire exercise, and Pilates is a sport that emphasizes core muscles. Consciously tightening the core muscles and maintaining a stable and strong core is the basis of all exercises. When you start practicing and delving into Pilates, you will experience this gratifying and pleasant feeling.
6. Control
Pilates once said: "Good posture can only be successfully achieved when the entire mechanism of the body is under perfect control." In the early stages of practice, achieving movement control is a conscious process. It is repeated constantly in the process of our practice. After a period of time and countless repetitions, movement control will slowly turn into intuition, directly integrated into the entire movement process and daily gestures.
7. Precision
Without precision, Pilates practice becomes meaningless. There are generally clear requirements in the teaching of Pilates exercise, such as the starting position of the movement, the trajectory of the movement, the order and rhythm of breathing, etc. Precision is the foundation of the "correction method". Pilates exercise requires high precision. Every time you activate the muscles and every time you complete the movement, you must try to be as precise as possible. When practitioners pursue precision and details, they often think that their exercise is more profound than ever before, even though they have done similar movements many times before.
8. Fluency
Usually, fluency does not only refer to a movement from the beginning to the end, but also includes the connection between movements. The movements choreographed by a good Pilates instructor must be in line with the principles of movement. A high-quality Pilates exercise not only looks smooth and coherent, but also stretches and flows gracefully. It is functional and targeted, which can relieve the practitioner's physical and mental discomfort and achieve whole-body harmony.
